Labor attacking Aust way of life: Abbott

Tony Abbott has accused Labor of attacking Australia's way of life by proposing a public vote on whether to become a republic.

The former prime minister says the republic vote is the federal opposition's latest attack after it vowed to legalise gay marriage with a parliamentary vote.

The proposed republic vote would cost the same $150 million as a plebiscite on gay marriage and would not answer the question of whether a president should be elected by voters or chosen by the government, he said.

It could undermine the legitimacy of Australia's system of government without putting anything in its place, he warned.

"This attack on the monarchy is just the latest instalment in the green-left's war on our way of life that Shorten Labor has largely made its own," he writes in The Australian on Wednesday.

Mr Abbott accused Labor of trying to divide and diminish the nation with its "envy-exploiting" campaign against inequality.